Toronto Star
April 24, 2005
By Linda Mcquaig

A common complaint is that revelations from the Gomery inquiry have brought the operation of the federal government effectively to a halt. One front that Ottawa seems to keep doggedly moving ahead on — regrettably — is our military integration with the U.S.

Indeed, while the Gomery issue built to a crescendo last week, hardly any attention was paid to the release of a defence policy review that signalled Ottawa's intention to make the Canadian military more part of the U.S. war machine - a change that would likely offend most Canadians if they were aware of it.

Of course, it wasn't stated like that. Rather, the change was billed as part of our "new, more sophisticated approach to our relationship with the United States."

In essence, this "more sophisticated" approach boils down to linking our military operations more with Washington's. "Today our ships integrate seamlessly with U.S. Navy formations," the review notes enthusiastically, holding up this model of "interoperability."

Of course, Canada has a long history of military co-operation with the U.S., but the Bush administration's more aggressive military stance has threatened to change the nature of that relationship. Washington wants us to join their global war against "terror" - a murky, open-ended war that allows the U.S. to intervene anywhere in the world.

A report in the Wall Street Journal last month described a new top-level Pentagon planning document which calls for the U.S. military to become more "proactive" and "focused on changing the world instead of just responding to conflicts."

This is hair-raising stuff that goes beyond even the frightening notion of pre-emptive war. Now Washington seems to be talking about using its unsurpassed military might to force nations to behave as it wants them to. Only the most rabid pro-Washington zealot would fail to see the opportunities for abuse in such unchallenged power.

Canadians have no interest in being part of an aggressive force bent on remaking the world. But Ottawa's defence review, part of its overall foreign policy review, portrays our defence needs as essentially the same as Washington's: "(M)ost of the new dangers to the United States are no less risks to Canada."

In fact, our situations are very different. Few terrorists want to attack us, because we don't have a long history of intervening in other countries the way Washington has. For that matter, Washington exaggerates its own vulnerability in order to keep Americans willing to go to war.

Canadians are overwhelmingly resistant to the kind of military adventurism favoured by hawks in the Bush administration. At the same time, we're willing to put money and manpower into maintaining peacekeeping forces around the world.

If we associate our military with peacekeeping - as the government no doubt hopes we will - we'll be more inclined to accept the massive $13 billion increase in military spending Ottawa has proposed.

But, with Ottawa's emphasis on integrating Canada's defence policy with Washington's, it's not peacekeeping but war-making that's likely to be on the agenda.

Linda McQuaig is a Toronto-based author and commentator.

Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited

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